Member-only story
Does Upwork Suck?
My experience with Upwork hasn’t been the best.
Since I began giving Medium ‘a go’ a few months ago, I’ve seen several articles about how much money people can earn on Upwork. Thousands of dollars even! This made me wonder whether my experience with the site is, well, simply wrong… as it contradicts the majority of the articles I’ve seen praising its earning potential.
I’ve been freelancing pretty consistently for years. However, when one of my largest contracts ended a few months after the start of COVID in 2020, I decided I would see how I could recoup the massive deficit in my earnings. I uploaded a profile on Upwork for editing and content creation — something I have accrued impressive experience and qualifications in over the years.
It took a while for anything to happen — and to be honest, I was more focused on sorting out the problems that COVID had thrown my way, but eventually, clients contacted me. They were offering me paltry pay for jobs — like $10 for my work — which after taxes, Upwork’s fee, and conversion to euro, nearly made it seem like I was working for free. I did, however, want to build up a decent score to attract higher-paid jobs, so I fell into the ritual of taking on these little jobs with the bigger picture in mind. It wasn’t like I was going anywhere.
